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Default Water Softener Follow-Up Question

Last weekend, I got an education in how my salt-based water softener by
the Nelsen Corporation works.

I need to know something: Can the clay in the holding tank ever get
corrupted or ruined, so that it no longer interacts the way it should
with the salt infusion?

I had posted because of the amount of scum in the brine tank. Is there
any industry or chemical test that can find out if the clay in the
holding tank is still good?

The trouble is that the tank is in my mom's home. A sister paid for
the softener, and mom's of an age where she doesn't pay attention to
maintenance issues any longer. It wasn't until about a year and a half
after it was installed that I began to take care of it (cleaning out a
brine tank so filthy I actually sold my own home and moved in with mom
because it-- Well, it suggested mom needed more help than she was
getting). I'm so afraid the length of time the brine tank remained so
filthy somehow corrupted the holding tank.

I SHOULD point out, however, that during this time the brine tank was
routinely filled with sufficient salt pellets. I did not know this
when I posted last week, but family relatives have set me straight in
the past seven days.

Thanks.

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Edwin Pawlowski
 
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I need to know something: Can the clay in the holding tank ever get
corrupted or ruined, so that it no longer interacts the way it should
with the salt infusion?


Yes, but generaly it lasts for years. There are also conditioners available
bt I don't know how well they really work.


I had posted because of the amount of scum in the brine tank. Is there
any industry or chemical test that can find out if the clay in the
holding tank is still good?


All you hav to do is check the softness of the water. If it is soft, the
resin in working properly, as is the rest of the system.



after it was installed that I began to take care of it (cleaning out a
brine tank so filthy I actually sold my own home and moved in with mom
because it-- Well, it suggested mom needed more help than she was
getting). I'm so afraid the length of time the brine tank remained so
filthy somehow corrupted the holding tank.


We have a softener at work that treats between 10,000 and 12,000 gallons a
day and uses a few of bags a salt a week. We clean the brine tank once a
year. Nasty as it looks at times, the softener still does its thing. If it
is still working, don't worry about it. Takes but a few seconds to test the
water so do it once a week or so.




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Thanks again, Edwin. One FINAL (promise) question: where do you take
your water, if you're a residential customer, to be tested?

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Edwin Pawlowski
 
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....
Thanks again, Edwin. One FINAL (promise) question: where do you take
your water, if you're a residential customer, to be tested?


To test for softness, all you need is a $10 kit. put the water in a vial,
put a few drops of solution, check the color. Water is either soft of hard
in that test. That means it is either working or not working

You can get kits that tell the degree of hardness, but you don't really need
that. If you want more thorough tests, any water treatment outfit can do it.
Sears stores usually do it.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/


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